because of OU's inability to play defense.
No one should expect any team in the Big12 to have a dominate, shut-down defense. That ship has sailed.
But to have game results dependent only on offensive production is not good football.
I want Riley to have some answers by next season. If his coaching skills are as great as advertised, he should be able to fix things on defense. What I'm seeing as I watch games like yesterday are bad coaching and players without basic skills. Such problems are not likely to be fixed quickly, but it's clear to me that the cast of characters (coaches and players) have failed completely. Firing Mike Stoops is only a "Band-Aid" remedy.
I don't claim to have concrete answers, but I believe a complete tear-down and rebuild are in order as far as OU ever fielding a team that can at least have some clutch stops and big plays defensively.
When Texas had the ball with the score tied at 45-45, I knew a great rally was to be wasted by OU.
When OSU had the ball trailing 48-41, I knew the Cowboys would score and go for two points.
And games like this are now common for OU.
It seems that if OU had a defense as good as any other top ten team....that is, at least an adequate defense...this team would be one of OU's best ever teams. The same could be said for Mayfield's last season in 2017.
We need to have a defense that our offense can be proud of.
No one should expect any team in the Big12 to have a dominate, shut-down defense. That ship has sailed.
But to have game results dependent only on offensive production is not good football.
I want Riley to have some answers by next season. If his coaching skills are as great as advertised, he should be able to fix things on defense. What I'm seeing as I watch games like yesterday are bad coaching and players without basic skills. Such problems are not likely to be fixed quickly, but it's clear to me that the cast of characters (coaches and players) have failed completely. Firing Mike Stoops is only a "Band-Aid" remedy.
I don't claim to have concrete answers, but I believe a complete tear-down and rebuild are in order as far as OU ever fielding a team that can at least have some clutch stops and big plays defensively.
When Texas had the ball with the score tied at 45-45, I knew a great rally was to be wasted by OU.
When OSU had the ball trailing 48-41, I knew the Cowboys would score and go for two points.
And games like this are now common for OU.
It seems that if OU had a defense as good as any other top ten team....that is, at least an adequate defense...this team would be one of OU's best ever teams. The same could be said for Mayfield's last season in 2017.
We need to have a defense that our offense can be proud of.